Start with the last two books I've read. They might seem to have little in common beyond certain obvious traits--author, cover, numbered pages, blurbs, etc. At no point while reading the books, one fiction and the other nonfiction, did I see a connection. I simply followed usage directions from my lifelong prescription: Pick a book, read it, pick another. Repeat as needed.
The first was Michael Perry's sharp and funny novel
The Jesus Cow, in which Harley Jackson's small herd is suddenly joined by a newborn calf, "upon whose flank was borne the very image of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." Harley's first reaction: "Well, that's trouble." And of course it is for the hardworking man who is just trying to save himself from "the triangular career path of many local men his age: trailer, toil and tavern."
Then I read
Boss Life by Paul Downs (to be releasedAugust 4), an intriguing account of one year (2012) in the professional and personal life of Downs, who opened his custom furniture business in 1987. There is fierce honesty here, as he chronicles the day-to-day challenges faced by a gifted craftsman who has had to learn how to be boss, small businessman, salesman, accountant and much more, with varying degrees of success.
Two excellent books I just happened to read in succession. I didn't give it much thought until last Thursday, when I saw John Green on the incomparable soccer podcast
Men in Blazers. He was asked (at the 23-minute mark) about writer's block, and Green replied: "I remember complaining to my Dad when I first started writing that I couldn't get anything done and I had writer's block, and my Dad said, 'You know, coal miners don't get to get coal miner's block.' "
At this moment, I saw a thread connecting
The Jesus Cow to
Boss Life to me as both reader and worker. It was simply, and not so simply, their honest depiction of working lives. --
Robert Gray, contributing editor
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